ICANN criticized over XXX domain delay

Trent Nouveau, 6th May 2010

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has come under increasing pressure to create an XXX web domain for adult content.

ICANN originally approved the domain in 2005, but later reversed its decision in 2007. The organization recently delayed another vote on the controversial issue after asking its general counsel to further "examine” the issue.

"This has been a $7m dollar process, costing us $5m in legal fees and ICANN$2m," Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, which has lobbied for an .XXX domain, told the BBC.

"Originally, the decision was politically driven but now for Icann...It is about not wanting to admit they were wrong."

However, an ICANN spokesperson insisted the group was a "global entity" which was "actively seeking the comments of as many people as possible in our community, on important issues like this one."

Nevertheless, Lawley said he was becoming "increasingly" frustrated with ICANN’s delay tactics and emphasized that having a specific domain for porn sites would help parents block access to inappropriate adult content.

"One of the requirements of anyone registering a .XXX domain is that the site carries meta-tags that will be automatically picked up by the popular browsers and allow people who want to avoid the content to easily do so," he added.